* Ivy League Release

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell football team's home opener and 2012 Homecoming contest against Yale will be televised by NBC Sports Network on Saturday, Sept. 22 at 1 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field. The Big Red and the Bulldogs will kick off the Ivy League's schedule of seven nationally televised games on the network. In addition, an eighth Ivy League game will be televised by CBS Sports Network.

Cornell and Yale will be the first game on a doubleheader on Sept. 22, with Harvard visiting Brown at 4:30 p.m.

Yale won the 2011 meeting between the teams 37-17 despite 271 yards passing and a touchdown from Jeff Mathews. Bulldog quarterback Patrick Witt passed for 246 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for a score in the win. Yale holds a 44-28-2 edge in the all-time series, although it has recently tilted toward the Bulldogs. Yale has won eight of the last 11 meetings between the squads, though Cornell upset the 2008 preseason Ivy League favorites 17-14 at Schoellkopf Field in 2008 and knocked off the Bulldogs 14-12 at the Yale Bowl in 2009.

The 2012 Big Red returns 45 letter winners and 19 total starters (9 offense, 8 defense, 2 special teams) from last year's 5-5 squad. Included are reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Jeff Mathews at quarterback, All-American wide receiver Shane Savage and All-Ivy players Kurt Ondash (WR), Luke Tasker (WR) and JC Tretter (OL) on offense and safeties Josh Barut and Andrew Nelson and linebacker Brett Buehler, all three among the team's leading tacklers, on defense. The team opens the 2012 season at Fordham on Saturday, Sept. 15.